Gift
by WriterPatriot
Summary: Rocket and Peter are left with grief after Groot and Yondu respectively die. What do they do for each other? (Will be Two-Shot, Chapter 1 post-Vol. 1 and Chapter 2 post-Vol. 2.)
1. Regrowth

**Chapter 1: Regrowth**

Rocket grimaced as he walked into the little shop. Gardening supplies and packets of seeds lined the walls. He could tell he stuck out like a sore thumb, which he hated. Modified raccoons armed to the teeth were obviously a rare sight here. Everyone in the store looked worried. To have a Guardian of the Galaxy in the store would usually put people at ease, but this particular Guardian wasn't known for his level-headedness and restraint, no matter his motives, at any given time. He gathered a small flowerpot and packages of soil and fertilizer and, in a move that felt alien to him, paid for it all. As he boarded the _Milano,_ now home to all five Guardians, he prayed to a God he had rarely ever considered that no one would notice his purchases. Rocket had certainly done stranger things, but this felt all wrong to him. Caring for Groot when he was so unlikely to grow back made him feel terribly odd.

He had avoided everyone until he reached the workshop. He had just laid out in front of him the pot, the soil, the fertilizer, and what little of Groot hadn't been scorched. He was trying to force his claw through the soil's tough wrapper when there was a sudden, "What'cha doin'?" Rocket screamed, jerked around to hiss at Peter, and finally tore a huge gash in the bag of topsoil. Slapping his knees in frustration he snarled, "What the frick are _you_ doing here, Quill?"

"Cleaning my guns. That alien slime sure is a— wait, what's all this?"

Quill had noticed Rocket's embarrassing project.

Rocket snarled, but it was an empty, sad sound. "Some junk I got _legally_ for Groot…"

Peter smiled non-judgmentally. Then, in a voice that was too sincere for Star Lord, he reassured him, "That's very nice of you. They say Flora Colossi can grow back if you care for 'em properly." Rocket nodded sullenly.

"Yeah… whatever…" Rocket grabbed a fistful of the soil and dropped it into the pot. Bravely, Quill did the same. Rocket looked at him quizzically, and dumped in another scoop. Together, they filled the pot halfway. Then, Peter picked up the fertilizer. "My mom taught me how to do this back on Earth." Rocket nodded almost imperceptibly as Peter stirred in the powder with his finger. "Used to do it all the time. Want to do the most important part?"

Rocket mumbled, "Y-yeah…" and picked up the twig that held the last existing Flora Colossus root. He set the wispier end with the root fibers into the hole that Quill's finger had left. Then, together, Rocket and Peter poured in more soil and patted it down. Then, taking out a canteen, Peter poured in some water. He had expected Rocket to walk away after that, as the raccoon had looked terribly awkward through the entire experience. However, he stayed in the exact same spot, looking at Groot pleadingly.

"These things take time," Peter cautioned. "It could take weeks for him to speak again." He was careful not to mention that with the amount of trauma Groot had sustained, his chances of survival were very low.

Rocket sighed, placing his head in his paws. "Face it, Star-Fizzle," he spat. "How could he have survived that?"

Peter laid a hand on Rocket's shoulder tentatively, and Rocket oddly didn't resist. "Groot would never give up on us. We need to make sure we never give up on him."

Everything had changed after that fateful day fighting Ronan. Everyone realized for the first time how much they missed the amiable rumbles of "I am Groot" echoing through the _Milano_. Due to their rough lives, none of them were used to caring for others, but Groot had already become family. The ship had been moored in the same place for a week, and life onboard was anything but normal. There was rarely music from Peter; none of his joyful, carefree songs seemed appropriate to him. Rocket and Drax had taken to listening to the Walkman while tinkering and sharpening knives, but it was more for Groot, whose little cup of dirt was now set up in the workshop. Peter had explained how Earth's scientists believed music aided plants' growth, and since then they had kept it spinning day in and day out. The music had annoyed them when they had first heard it before the Battle. Now it seemed as if that fuzzy-sounding tape would never get old.

 _One Week Later_

Exhausted but unable to sleep, Rocket turned over in his bunk perpetually. "Why!" he rasped, sniffling sadly. He hoped the others wouldn't hear him through the walls. "It's been four days!" The lack of his oldest friend's presence in the two-bunk room had never become natural. Suddenly, a knock at the door multiplied his problems. He did _not_ want to explain the tears in his eyes right now to anyone.

"Rocket!" Peter whispered.

"Not interested, Star-Dork."

"It's Groot," Peter whispered. "Come take a look!"

Rocket threw open the door and padded to the workshop as quickly as possible, with Peter sneaking behind.

"Is he… up yet?" Rocket asked frantically.

Peter smiled and whispered, "Have a look."

Rocket peered over the edge of the table to see Groot blinking his little eyes and stretching his tiny arms, having been awakened by Rocket's frantic entrance. "Uhh… Groot? Buddy?" Rocket whispered hopefully.

"He hasn't talked to me, but I caught him dancing to _I Want You Back_ in the mirror when he thought I wasn't looking," Peter snickered. Rocket slapped Peter's face. "Shut it! I heard something."

They both turned their eyes to Groot. A collective sound, part sigh of relief and whoop of joy, escaped both of them when they heard a tiny exclamation of "Grooooo!"

 **A/N: Again, give me your words, wise ones. First time writing for Marvel! Part 2 of 2 is written and coming soon!**


	2. Rebuilding

**Chapter 2: Rebuilding**

 **A/N: I was thrilled that so many people from so many countries checked out Chapter 1. I could not be more honored. I wanted this second part to be as perfect as possible. Enjoy!**

"Why are you moping over that old thing?" Rocket admonished Peter. "You got 300 more songs and even digitized all your old ones. Not to mention that this 'Zune' sounds a lot better than what you used to have."

Peter sighed, exasperated. "You really want to hear the reason?"

"If you're about to go all weepy on me, you can cut it," Rocket sneered.

Peter continued in a sullen tone. "All right. That 'old thing' was the last thing aside from the tapes that I had of my mother, and of my old life. Happy?"

"I can't believe how fast you can make me feel all slimy," Rocket shivered, flouncing away in disgust. Retrieving the parts of that Walkman was _not_ going to be easy.

The planet of Ego having been destroyed, the Walkman parts had drifted off into space and required advanced, robot-aided searches. Fortunately, Rocket found the main body. One look at the tape inside, fortunately still in working order, told the mechanic how to machine the parts that had fallen away.

Taking a sample of the antiquated plastic, he synthesized a batch and strengthened it, making it unlikely to break in the same place again. After repairing the plastic of the shattered frame with the styling of the damaged part recalled from his memories of the device, he began to dismantle the internal workings of the tape deck, audio amplifier, and power system. He laid every metal part and wire in front of him. Not having a circuit diagram for the circuit board, he painstakingly recreated one based on assumptions, reasoning, and just enough luck.

Certain parts were simply bent, but filling in the missing pieces was far beyond the difficulty Rocket usually encountered in his work. He spent many hours slotting different widths of pins into the tiny holes on the tape and welding (and de-welding) them to and from the tape deck pieces. The most perplexing part to deal with had been the magnetic tape reader. Its absence from the Walkman's carcass gave Rocket a _long_ new list of reasons to cuss out Ego. Not having designed the cassette tape or the cassette player, Rocket found himself irreversibly stumped. Fortunately, Kraglin knew the location of the junkyard where Yondu had seen the Zune.

Stepping through the piles of abandoned artifacts from dozens of worlds as rain drizzled down, Rocket once again questioned, "Why?" The project had been exhausting and time consuming, and if their collectively stunted nature was any indication, Peter might even _laugh_ at the whole situation. Still, he continued. Part of it stemmed from Rocket's guilt over teasing Peter about his obsession with the old music player, but he owed the majority to how Peter had treated him after Groot's apparent death. He dropped a tear onto his furry cheek as he compared Peter's kindness to his own callous snark. He _had_ to do this, to apologize to Peter without having to face the man directly. A few Terran artifacts, presumably taken unnoticed from a landfill somewhere on that world, lay in a corner. Perched on top, like a sign from above, was the magnetic reader from a Sony Walkman cassette player.

Once again laying all the parts on his desk, Rocket completed the rebuild. Toddler Groot danced his approval as the tape inside started in the middle of _Surrender_ , the last song Peter had listened to before the player had been destroyed. "Still needs something new…" Rocket mused, and then jumped in his seat, shocked at himself. Why had he just volunteered himself from more of this painstaking work with technology he had no understanding of?

After a second trip to the junkyard, Rocket sat down in front the ship's wall-mounted cassette deck and set up a communicator designed for secretive deep space signal interception. A signal broadcast from Terra for all to hear would be easy to obtain given the device's intended use, and a cable to link the two worlds-apart devices would be easy to splice. The main delay facing Rocket was the talkative nature of the voices over the radio. They provided a semi-constant stream of bumbling commentary on humans Rocket knew nothing about but whose lives sounded awesome. Finding songs that gave him the same joyful vibes as Peter's originals would take forever considering the ways the planet had evidently changed.

Three more-or-less constant days later, Rocket emerged. He didn't care to wrap the Walkman; he just threw it into a bag with the headphones and called the project done. What remained made all of the technical work seem easy.

That evening, Peter was startled by an impatient rap on his room door. A nervous-looking Rocket was the last thing he expected to find. Shoving the rolled-up bag into Peter's startled grasp, Rocket mumbled, "Don't mention it," and vanished down the hall.

"Uh, thanks?" Peter issued confusedly. Then, more to himself, he mused, "Let's see what we've got."

As he pulled the Walkman out of the bag, his eyes grew moist. He ran his fingers lovingly over the authentic but sturdy plastic substitute. With a tearful laugh, he tried on the cheap plastic headphones that had been there for him through 25 years. Inside the tape deck was his _Awesome Mix Vol. 2,_ its cracked casing also having been repaired. Against his will, Peter overflowed in excitement. He looked back inside the bag to discover what looked like a folded paper. Drawing it out, he found it to be a small box with a message attached. The tiny card read, "This was hell. You'd better appreciate it."

"Same old Rocket," Peter chuckled, opening the box. Inside glistened a brand new tape. Peter gasped when he saw it. Written on the factory-blank label were the words, "Awesome Mix?"

Despite recently receiving more fresh music than he ever thought possible, he scrambled to insert and start the new tape just like a young boy. With more enthusiasm than any other time in his life, he hit the scratched and dented Play button.

 _The Things We Do for Love_ began.

He listened in shock for several minutes, and then, in a voice loud enough to fill the ship, yelled, "Rocket! Too awesome!"

From across the ship, Rocket just face-palmed and shook his head. This would be fun to explain.

 **A/N: As usual I appreciate all well-worded opinions. The 10CC song "The Things We Do for Love" was mentioned during this story. Not essential to the story but I strongly recommend checking it out.**


End file.
